{"id":2200328,"date":"2023-03-06T20:07:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T11:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2200328"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:08:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:08:03","slug":"south-korea-has-good-reason-to-reconsider-costs-of-providing-weapons-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/south-korea-has-good-reason-to-reconsider-costs-of-providing-weapons-to-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea has good reason to reconsider costs of providing weapons to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"
One year into the conflict, Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine shows no sign of ending, and South Korea is coming under increased pressure \u2014 from not only the U.S. but also NATO and others \u2014 to supply weapons to Kyiv.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Yoon administration has followed the previous Moon administration\u2019s lead in its Ukraine policy. While Seoul condemned Russia, joined Western sanctions against Moscow and supplied humanitarian aid to Kyiv, it has drawn the line at sending lethal arms.<\/span><\/p>\n ROK <\/span>law<\/span><\/a> forbids the government from exporting weapons to countries where they will be used for anything other than \u201cpeaceful purposes,\u201d unless such arms shipments receive National Assembly approval. But despite this law, resistance to supplying arms appears to be weakening as a <\/span>growing number of voices<\/span><\/a> in South Korea call for Seoul to aid Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To date, fears about how Russia could retaliate against South Korea appear to be one of the main reasons why the Yoon administration has refrained from arming Kyiv. But some experts argue that these concerns have been overstated and that Moscow is unlikely to take substantive action to assist ROK rival North Korea or inflict economic pain on Seoul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A BARK WORSE THAN ITS BITE<\/b><\/p>\n NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg\u2019s <\/span>two-day visit<\/span><\/a> to South Korea in January marked the beginning of the West\u2019s soft push to persuade Seoul to provide weapons to Ukraine. Instead of forcefully demanding South Korea supply weapons to the battered European country, Stoltenberg <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> it was a decision for Seoul to make.<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby echoed this when he said in a recent <\/span>press briefing<\/span><\/a> that whether to send weapons to Ukraine is South Korea\u2019s sovereign choice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe want every nation to act in accordance with what they believe they can handle from their own national security perspective,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite such pleas, Seoul has resisted sending weapons to Kyiv because Russian leader Vladimir Putin <\/span>warned<\/span><\/a> that South Korea supplying weapons to Ukraine would destroy relations with Moscow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But Joel Atkinson, a political science professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> that Russia has limited options for retaliating to a South Korean decision to aid Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRussia has a range of sophisticated weapons technology that, in theory, could improve the North\u2019s military capabilities, such as air-defense systems, radars, fighters and drones,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cBut it seems unlikely that Russia would significantly increase its weapons transfers to North Korea at a time when it both desperately needs those weapons itself, and it is already an international pariah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There is also the fact that North Korea needs more ready cash to pay for Russian weapons. As the Russian economy remains weakened by Western sanctions, Moscow can ill afford to provide free or discounted arms to Pyongyang.<\/span><\/p>\n Moscow is already helping Pyongyang to the extent that it can by using its veto power on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to <\/span>block<\/span><\/a> U.S.-led resolutions seeking to strengthen economic sanctions against North Korea. And in exchange, the DPRK has <\/span>expressed<\/span><\/a> support for Russia\u2019s annexation of Ukrainian territory. All this has happened independently of South Korea\u2019s actions.<\/span><\/p>\n